


Facing Fatherhood

by Merfilly



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-10-07
Updated: 2006-10-07
Packaged: 2017-12-04 19:48:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/714421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver wants the support of Dinah as he finally faces the chance he had a daughter who grew up to be an Olympic level archer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Facing Fatherhood

The blonde man looked up at the sign with a heart wrenching pull on his memories, before he drew hard on his resolve to do this, and walked into the florist shop. He nodded politely to the woman behind the counter, looking slowly over the arrangements on view. He knew which ones she had done intimately; her art in working flowers had not faded, it seemed. Eventually the clerk finished with the current customer and approached him, a guarded wariness that said he had been recognized, and not merely as the mayor of Star City.

"She's not here," the woman told him, without even asking his business. "She's up at the park, three streets over, with her kid."

"Mind if I wait?" He did not want to face Dinah in public, especially not with her child.

"I'm pretty sure you can go on upstairs. But I'm going to tell her you're there," the woman said. He nodded to her, casually walking past the wall where Dinah had put her family pictures. He saw, to one side high above the rest, a picture of her and him, kissing with a deep passion. He wondered if she had chosen that one to remind her of what once was, or what she needed to avoid ever again.

The apartment above the shop was tastefully decorated, as he fully expected. There were items of art he had thought long gone, lost to the moves or the fire. The various pictures here showed Dinah and her family from over the years, as well as Dinah and her friends in their civilian identity. What hurt the most were the pictures of her and Roy, her with Connor…and then the picture of her holding a small Asian boy, while Shado stood in the darkness behind them.

He made his way from the wall of pictures over to the couch, sitting down on it to wait for his Pretty Bird to get home. He felt so comfortable, surrounded by her scent, her environment, he found himself nodding off. An attempt to stave it off by shifting did not help, as he found himself staring at a picture he had not expected to see here…one of him, with her, and Hal at their side. Focusing on it, thinking of happier days, somewhere that felt so safe and familiar, was too much to resist. His head fell to the pillow of his own arm, thrown over the back of the sofa.

`~`~`~`~`

Dinah left Sin downstairs with Rhosyn, as soon as the clerk told her who was waiting upstairs. She could not imagine what had brought the man to her home, in Metropolis, a city he hated more than even Gotham. She was prepared for nearly anything…but the sight of her former lover laid back, napping like a baby, made him much less of a threat. She was still intrigued, but now she felt concern edging, tempering her initial responses.

Very quietly, she went and sat on the couch just behind her ex-lover. The smell of his cologne was faint, but struck her as forcibly as the sight of the man at peace did. She schooled her reaction, resting her hand on his shoulder as she moved in close, using a method she had learned well in Star City for waking him gently. The touch and her nearness worked wonders, rousing Ollie slowly and letting him stretch leisurely without looking for an immediate threat.

"Evening, sleepyhead," she purred, sitting back as he turned. He smiled, his eyes reading her face for how she was doing. He saw stress around her eyes, but she still looked so radiant… He truly could not help it as he leaned in, only containing it to a kiss for her cheek rather than her lips.

"Nice way to wake up, Pretty Bird," he told her, shifting to sit more properly. She sat sideways, one leg tucked under her as she cocked her head to one side.

"Long way for the mayor of Star City to come for a nap," she teased lightly. Her eyes searched his with a long-term knowledge. "Something's wrong, isn't it?" He sighed, shaking his head with a rueful smile. 

"I need to know, Pretty Bird, about Arrowette. Trying hard to put the pieces together, to fix the things I did, and it keeps coming back to me, her age, who her mother is…"

"So you came to me?" Dinah was unsure how to feel about that. On one hand, it meant he still needed her, the same way she ached to have his approval from time to time. But the affair with Bonnie King had been very close to the beginning of their relationship, and some people had thought Dinah was the reason Ollie broke it off with Bonnie. 

"I know it's asking a lot, Dinah, but I can't take either of the boys with me, Mia doesn't understand, and you…" //Are my heart, my soul, the one person I know can support me through this.// His eyes said a fraction of what he would not say aloud, not pushing her boundaries of friendship, no matter what name was on her shop.

"Why not Hal? You told me he handled the death of her husband." Dinah saw his face fall, and had to reach out. "No, Oliver, I'm sorry…it just seems awkward taking me to see her."

"I'll call Hal then," he mumbled, looking very defeated. "It's just...you were almost like a mother to Roy, and you have cared so well for Lian, and now your new child, Sin."

Dinah was unsure if it was hearing that admission concerning Roy, or the fact Ollie had remembered Sin's name that made her move close, wrapping a hand around his neck and pressing her forehead to his.

"I'll go. I'll be there for you, whether Arrowette is or is not your child." Ollie smiled then, a soft one that bore little resemblance to his usual grin. 

"Thanks, Pretty Bird…you are the best a man could ever strive for." He drew her into a gentle hug, and could not help but inhale her scent, so mingled with the flowers she worked every day. 

"Let me call my boss, and tell her I'm out of the loop for a few days," Dinah said, pulling back and smiling at him. "She probably knows by now…but I'll need Gypsy to come stay with Sin."

"Knows?" That amused the man. "Is Oracle telepathic now?"

"No…voyeuristic." Dinah pointed to concealed camera points. "Working for a techno freak gives new meaning to paranoia…but I've had enough close calls to accept the constant eye on me."

"Invasion of privacy versus your skin…I say your skin," Ollie laughed.

`~`~`~`~`

Cissie had grown to hate going home, but it was a holiday weekend, and the school was closed…

She noted the car in the driveway with a curious stare, going in to find that there were two guests with her mother…who had an angry set look on her face. Cissie looked at the pair, and almost gasped aloud as she recognized one of the greatest living archers.

"Mister Arrow…" she stammered. "I mean, Mister Queen…" She identified the woman next to him, recalling her superhero identity but not her civilian one. "Miss Canary?"

"Cissie, they were leaving," Bonnie said firmly.

"You, Miss Arrowette need to stick a cork in it," Dinah snapped at the impertinent woman. "You refuse to answer his questions, and we've already caught you in a lie…"   
She settled, as Ollie laid a hand on her arm.

"Come on, Pretty Bird…not in front of the girl." He stood slowly, nodding to Bonnie. "I am sorry…but I wanted to do right." He drew the blonde at his side to her feet, keeping a careful arm around her waist.

"Wait!" Cissie stood in there way. "You're here about me, about who I might be," she said, half hoping for, half dreading the answer.

"I just want to know…and I should have made it more a point to find out 19 years ago." Ollie sized her up, noting the lean way she carried the upper body strength of a bow mistress. "They say you're the best of the best in your age range, maybe as good as Speedy…the first one…was at your age. But even if you weren't, I should have found out then; not leaving it 'til you're all grown."

Dinah squeezed her own arm around him, very proud of the adult manner Ollie had handled that in. She looked back as Bonnie made a small sniffling sound; sure enough the woman was crying at the way Oliver Jonas Queen had changed over the years.

"Mom once said you were…thought it was a joke," Cissie whispered.

"If you are, or you aren't; you can call on me anytime, Miss King-Jones." Ollie nodded. "Take care of your mom; she tried so hard then, and I bet she just tried too hard with you." He then rested his cheek against Dinah's hair. "Let's go, Pretty Bird." Cissie stopped him again, slipping close and hugging him as Dinah gave way.

"Thanks…and I just might stop by Star City one of these days." Her grin at him reminded her of Roy at that age, all spunk and passion and charm. In short, it reminded him of himself.

"Here." Dinah held out two business cards. "One's mine, including a special contact number; the other is his." She ignored Ollie's amusement that she had business cards for him. "If you ever need anything, and I'll be sure to let the other Arrows know."

"But I hung up my bow," Cissie said, amazed at how nice the woman was being to her.

"Once an Arrow, always an Arrow," Dinah told her. "Take care."

`~`~`~`~`

"Did you mean it?" 

Ollie's voice was a low rumble, a sleepy noise in the middle of their long drive. Dinah was actually doing close to the speed limit as she drove through the rain and cold for this stretch.

"What, Ollie?"

"Once an Arrow, always an Arrow."

She glanced over at him, seeing his eyes were shut, as if by pretending to be this close to sleep he could plead that he had not really been thinking when he asked.

"Depends." Her hand snaked across the seat, finding his and twining with it. "I hear some get mighty corrupted by Bats." He shifted, making sure to merely stroke the fine bones of her hand with his thumb.

"I happen to know that can't happen to any Bird whose feathers makes this Arrow fly true," he responded. "And Pretty Bird…that's what I want to do with all my heart." He cringed inside, knowing good and well how badly he had stepped on her heart last time.

"I hear long distance relationships suck," she said, not answering directly.

"Good thing we can try and figure up some kind of transporter hijacking once someone puts a new League together," he replied, taking her comment for her affirmative.

"Yeah, good thing."

`~`~`~`~`


End file.
